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Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media tycoon and former owner of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, has appeared in court in a long-delayed national security trial that could put him in prison for life.

The 76-year-old mogul, who has already spent almost three years in prison, was among the Chinese territory’s most well-known democracy champions and a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist party. He faces charges of colluding with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious material.

There was a heavy security presence around the courthouse ahead of the opening of the trial on Monday, including an armoured vehicle, a bomb disposal vehicle and police dogs. Dozens of people had queued for hours to enter the courtroom.

“The fact that I can still choose to attend the hearing today is itself an exercise of some form of resistance,” said a man in his 40s surnamed Sung.

The trial, which is being held without a jury and for which the court has set aside 80 days, was delayed for months after Hong Kong’s government barred Lai’s defence lawyer, UK barrister Tim Owen, in late 2022 on the basis that foreign legal representation could pose a national security threat.

The US, UK and European parliament have called for Lai’s release, with UK foreign secretary David Cameron saying he was “gravely concerned” about Lai’s “politically motivated prosecution”. Cameron met Lai’s son Sebastien last week to discuss the case. Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen, a veteran human rights advocate, and several foreign diplomats attended the hearing.

Lai, who has pleaded not guilty, appeared visibly thinner in court on Monday. He wore a grey blazer, and waved to the public gallery from the dock.

Observers have warned that the case represents a test for the city’s rapidly deteriorating freedoms, once a cherished part of Hong Kong’s identity following the former British colony’s 1997 handover to China.

Beijing has cracked down in the wake of citywide pro-democracy protests in 2019, imposing the sweeping national security law under which opposition activists and politicians have been jailed, and driving more to flee the territory. Mass demonstrations have been snuffed out, while civil society groups and media outlets, including Lai’s Apple Daily, were forced to shut.

A verdict is also expected soon in the trial of 47 of the country’s most prominent opposition figures, the largest trial under the national security law.

Last week, authorities issued HK$1mn (US$128,000) rewards for information leading to the arrests of five self-exiled activists in an effort to stifle dissent overseas, following earlier bounties on eight figures.

This month, Agnes Chow, another of Hong Kong’s most well-known pro-democracy campaigners, announced that she had left the city. Chow, who had been on bail under the national security law, said her passport had been returned by police in exchange for her penning a “repentance letter” disavowing her past activities and after agreeing to a patriotic tour in mainland China with national security officials. Chow wrote on social media that she had relocated to Canada to study and would not report to police under her bail conditions.

Prosecutors have accused Lai of conspiring to publish seditious material in his Apple Daily newspaper as well as colluding with foreign elements to “impose sanctions . . . or engage in other hostile activities” against Hong Kong and Beijing.

He has been in jail since December 2020 and was sentenced last year to five years and nine months in prison on fraud charges related to the lease of Apple Daily’s headquarters.

“Lai could be sentenced to a decade or more in prison, and that might be enough to ensure that he spends the rest of his days in prison,” said Thomas E Kellogg, executive director at Georgetown University’s Center for Asian Law.

Jolly Chung was first in line in the public queue, arriving at about 10pm on Sunday night and sleeping outside the court. She plans to attend the rest of the trial. “I want to know how the [court] would [handle his case] before he loses,” she said.